Dehyration Nation

Do you drink enough water every day? Are you substituting water for other drinks like coffee, tea, soda pop, "power" drinks, juices, or other processed beverages? Or, is your schedule so busy that you find you are going too long without drinking water? This perpetual cycle of drinking beverages which dehydrate you more and then not getting enough pure water daily can actually be the culprit of numerous health problems such as circulation, digestion, blood pressure, and kidney dysfunction.

Here are some guidelines and things to remember in order to keep yourself hydrated:

• A good rule of thumb is to check the color of your urine. If your urine is any color other than light yellow, you are dehydrated and need more water. There is an old saying about drinking 8 glasses of water daily, and this works for some people. However, not everyone needs the same amount of water daily, so always use the urine test to determine if you are receiving enough fluids. If you are taking a multi-vitamin, especially one with B2 (Riboflavin), your urine will be colored bright yellow.
• Avoid drinking all your water at once. It is better to have a container of water on hand at all times and sip than to try and catch up after hours and hours with no liquid and drink it all down at once.
• Use a glass or metal container for your water. Plastic can leech into your water, and especially if it has been sitting for a long period of time or in a place that could potentially become hot, such as outside or in a car. Save glass bottles from products you purchase or find some good stainless steel containers from the store for storing water. As a suggestions, if you purchase water from a local source and use your own bottles, store it in glass bottles and dispense from a ceramic water container with a spout.
• Don't buy bottled water. Most bottled waters are in plastic containers, and there is usually no way to verify the actual source of the water (there are exceptions, of course). Many bottled waters are simply tap water. Tap water contains many impurities, chemicals, and toxins from various substances that get into the water as well as others that are leeched in from the water treatment process such as iron, chlorine, fluoride, arsenic, mercury, ingredients from medications people take, and many others. Bottled water is also costly and when bottles are discarded, a very small percentage of those are actually recycled and end up in landfills - which damage the environment.
• Avoid using distilled water for drinking. Distilled water has poor ionization, pH, polarization and oxidation potentials. Drinking distilled water can also rapidly deplete minerals from the body.
• Even if you are drinking enough water, you could still be dehydrated. This is because most water does not contain minerals, and mineral loss is one of the major causes of dehyrdation. One way to assure you are getting minerals daily is to visit a knowledgeable health care practitioner who can determine your mineral balance. He or she can recommend a mineral supplement to take which can bring your mineral levels to optimal, which greatly improves health. Most mineral supplements do not have to be taken indefinitely; once your body rebuilds it's mineral supply up, you can discontinue the supplement.
• Another way to keep mineral levels up is to buy a good quality product such as Electrolyte Stamina. This great tasting, "fizzing" drink (powder that you add to water) contains Stevia and comes in several flavors with over 1220 mg of Vitamin C, 72 trace elements and minerals, is high in Potassium, is a great antioxidant, and contains all major electrolytes.
• Use a water filter that you can put on your tap. One of the best systems you can purchase is Kangen, a perfect alkaline, anti-oxidant containing water which properly filters out all impurities. Another good water filtration system is PUR Ultimate Faucet Mount and GE Smart Water (as recommended by Dr. Mercola).